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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
Photograph by Erdelyi
CROATIAN MEN IN NATIVE COSTUME: THE SKIRTS ARE IN REALITY VERY BAGGY
TROUSERS (SEE NEXT PAGE)
The Serbs and Croats belong to the same branch of the Slav race. The chief difference
between them is religious and, to a less extent, linguistic. Their literary language is the same,
save that the Croats employ the Latin alphabet, while the Serbs use a modified form of the
Cyrillic or Russian (see Jugo-Slavia, page 485).
on which the early kingdom of Greater Bul
garia arose in the fifth century. From the
Volga their Khan led some of their wild horse
men in 679. They crossed the Danube and
subdued the Slavs on its south bank. Few in
number, they gradually merged with the Slavic
inhabitants. When Christianized in the ninth
century by the Greek missionaries, Saint Cyril
and Saint Methodius, the fusion became com
plete.
The name Bulgarian remained, but in lan
guage, institutions, and customs the entire peo
ple was Slavic. The Bulgarians are rightly
reckoned a Slavic people.
They subjugated all the northern part of the
peninsula from the Black Sea to the Adriatic.
Later their kingdom broke into two parts, both
to be overthrown by the Byzantine emperors.
Successful rebellion enabled them to found a
second more powerful empire, over which their
greatest Tsar, Asen II, reigned wisely and well.
Then came decline. The Bulgarians paid
tribute to the Serbian king, Dushan. The Otto
man Turks forced the last Bulgarian king to
become a vassal of the Sultan and to yield his
sister to the harem. There followed five
centuries of indescribable Turkish domination.
Many Bulgarians became Moslems, they and